API Tutorials

PowerShell + CaptchaAI: Windows Automation CAPTCHA Solving

Automation reCAPTCHA v2 Cloudflare Turnstile Image OCR Testing PowerShell
By Irina
Published at Jan 28, 2026
PowerShell + CaptchaAI: Windows Automation CAPTCHA Solving
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PowerShell is the default automation tool on Windows. System administrators, QA engineers, and DevOps teams use it for web testing, form automation, and monitoring. When these scripts hit CAPTCHAs, CaptchaAI's HTTP API integrates directly through Invoke-RestMethod — no modules to install.

This guide covers reCAPTCHA v2/v3, Cloudflare Turnstile, and image CAPTCHA solving with production-ready PowerShell functions and scripts.

Why PowerShell for CAPTCHA Automation

  • Built into Windows — no installation needed (PowerShell 5.1+)
  • Invoke-RestMethod — native REST API support with automatic JSON parsing
  • Task Scheduler — schedule CAPTCHA-dependent scripts natively
  • Pipeline-friendly — chain solving with downstream automation
  • Cross-platform — PowerShell 7+ runs on Linux and macOS too

Prerequisites

  • PowerShell 5.1 (Windows) or PowerShell 7+ (cross-platform)
  • CaptchaAI API key (get one here)
  • No additional modules required

Basic Solver Functions

Submit Task

function Submit-CaptchaTask {
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory)]
        [string]$ApiKey,

        [Parameter(Mandatory)]
        [hashtable]$TaskParams
    )

    $body = @{
        key  = $ApiKey
        json = 1
    } + $TaskParams

    $response = Invoke-RestMethod -Uri "https://ocr.captchaai.com/in.php" `
        -Method Post `
        -Body $body `
        -ContentType "application/x-www-form-urlencoded"

    if ($response.status -ne 1) {
        throw "Submit failed: $($response.request)"
    }

    return $response.request
}

Poll Result

function Get-CaptchaResult {
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory)]
        [string]$ApiKey,

        [Parameter(Mandatory)]
        [string]$TaskId,

        [int]$MaxWaitSeconds = 300,
        [int]$PollIntervalSeconds = 5
    )

    $deadline = (Get-Date).AddSeconds($MaxWaitSeconds)

    while ((Get-Date) -lt $deadline) {
        Start-Sleep -Seconds $PollIntervalSeconds

        $response = Invoke-RestMethod -Uri "https://ocr.captchaai.com/res.php" `
            -Method Get `
            -Body @{
                key    = $ApiKey
                action = "get"
                id     = $TaskId
                json   = 1
            }

        if ($response.request -eq "CAPCHA_NOT_READY") {
            Write-Verbose "Waiting for solution..."
            continue
        }

        if ($response.status -ne 1) {
            throw "Solve failed: $($response.request)"
        }

        return $response.request
    }

    throw "Timeout: CAPTCHA not solved within $MaxWaitSeconds seconds"
}

Solving reCAPTCHA v2

function Solve-RecaptchaV2 {
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory)]
        [string]$ApiKey,

        [Parameter(Mandatory)]
        [string]$SiteUrl,

        [Parameter(Mandatory)]
        [string]$SiteKey
    )

    Write-Host "Submitting reCAPTCHA v2 task..."
    $taskId = Submit-CaptchaTask -ApiKey $ApiKey -TaskParams @{
        method    = "userrecaptcha"
        googlekey = $SiteKey
        pageurl   = $SiteUrl
    }
    Write-Host "Task ID: $taskId"

    Write-Host "Polling for solution..."
    $token = Get-CaptchaResult -ApiKey $ApiKey -TaskId $taskId
    Write-Host "Solved! Token: $($token.Substring(0, [Math]::Min(50, $token.Length)))..."

    return $token
}

# Usage
$apiKey = "YOUR_API_KEY"
$token = Solve-RecaptchaV2 `
    -ApiKey $apiKey `
    -SiteUrl "https://example.com/login" `
    -SiteKey "6Le-wvkSAAAAAPBMRTvw0Q4Muexq9bi0DJwx_mJ-"

Solving Cloudflare Turnstile

function Solve-Turnstile {
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory)]
        [string]$ApiKey,

        [Parameter(Mandatory)]
        [string]$SiteUrl,

        [Parameter(Mandatory)]
        [string]$SiteKey
    )

    $taskId = Submit-CaptchaTask -ApiKey $ApiKey -TaskParams @{
        method  = "turnstile"
        key     = $SiteKey
        pageurl = $SiteUrl
    }

    return Get-CaptchaResult -ApiKey $ApiKey -TaskId $taskId
}

# Usage
$token = Solve-Turnstile `
    -ApiKey "YOUR_API_KEY" `
    -SiteUrl "https://example.com/form" `
    -SiteKey "0x4AAAAAAAB5..."

Solving reCAPTCHA v3

function Solve-RecaptchaV3 {
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory)]
        [string]$ApiKey,

        [Parameter(Mandatory)]
        [string]$SiteUrl,

        [Parameter(Mandatory)]
        [string]$SiteKey,

        [string]$Action = "verify",
        [double]$MinScore = 0.7
    )

    $taskId = Submit-CaptchaTask -ApiKey $ApiKey -TaskParams @{
        method    = "userrecaptcha"
        googlekey = $SiteKey
        pageurl   = $SiteUrl
        version   = "v3"
        action    = $Action
        min_score = $MinScore
    }

    return Get-CaptchaResult -ApiKey $ApiKey -TaskId $taskId
}

Solving Image CAPTCHAs

function Solve-ImageCaptcha {
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory)]
        [string]$ApiKey,

        [Parameter(Mandatory)]
        [string]$ImagePath
    )

    if (-not (Test-Path $ImagePath)) {
        throw "Image file not found: $ImagePath"
    }

    $imageBytes = [System.IO.File]::ReadAllBytes($ImagePath)
    $base64 = [Convert]::ToBase64String($imageBytes)

    $taskId = Submit-CaptchaTask -ApiKey $ApiKey -TaskParams @{
        method = "base64"
        body   = $base64
    }

    return Get-CaptchaResult -ApiKey $ApiKey -TaskId $taskId
}

# Usage
$text = Solve-ImageCaptcha -ApiKey "YOUR_API_KEY" -ImagePath "C:\captcha.png"
Write-Host "CAPTCHA text: $text"

From URL

function Solve-ImageCaptchaFromUrl {
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory)]
        [string]$ApiKey,

        [Parameter(Mandatory)]
        [string]$ImageUrl
    )

    $imageBytes = (Invoke-WebRequest -Uri $ImageUrl).Content
    $base64 = [Convert]::ToBase64String($imageBytes)

    $taskId = Submit-CaptchaTask -ApiKey $ApiKey -TaskParams @{
        method = "base64"
        body   = $base64
    }

    return Get-CaptchaResult -ApiKey $ApiKey -TaskId $taskId
}

Complete Solver Module

Save as CaptchaAI.psm1:

class CaptchaAISolver {
    [string]$ApiKey
    [string]$BaseUrl = "https://ocr.captchaai.com"
    [int]$PollInterval = 5
    [int]$MaxWait = 300

    CaptchaAISolver([string]$apiKey) {
        $this.ApiKey = $apiKey
    }

    [string] SolveRecaptchaV2([string]$siteUrl, [string]$siteKey) {
        return $this.Solve(@{
            method    = "userrecaptcha"
            googlekey = $siteKey
            pageurl   = $siteUrl
        })
    }

    [string] SolveTurnstile([string]$siteUrl, [string]$siteKey) {
        return $this.Solve(@{
            method  = "turnstile"
            key     = $siteKey
            pageurl = $siteUrl
        })
    }

    [string] SolveImage([string]$imagePath) {
        $bytes = [System.IO.File]::ReadAllBytes($imagePath)
        $base64 = [Convert]::ToBase64String($bytes)
        return $this.Solve(@{
            method = "base64"
            body   = $base64
        })
    }

    [double] GetBalance() {
        $response = Invoke-RestMethod -Uri "$($this.BaseUrl)/res.php" `
            -Body @{ key = $this.ApiKey; action = "getbalance"; json = 1 }
        return [double]$response.request
    }

    hidden [string] Solve([hashtable]$params) {
        $taskId = $this.Submit($params)
        return $this.Poll($taskId)
    }

    hidden [string] Submit([hashtable]$params) {
        $body = @{ key = $this.ApiKey; json = 1 } + $params
        $response = Invoke-RestMethod -Uri "$($this.BaseUrl)/in.php" `
            -Method Post -Body $body
        if ($response.status -ne 1) { throw "Submit: $($response.request)" }
        return $response.request
    }

    hidden [string] Poll([string]$taskId) {
        $deadline = (Get-Date).AddSeconds($this.MaxWait)
        while ((Get-Date) -lt $deadline) {
            Start-Sleep -Seconds $this.PollInterval
            $response = Invoke-RestMethod -Uri "$($this.BaseUrl)/res.php" `
                -Body @{ key = $this.ApiKey; action = "get"; id = $taskId; json = 1 }
            if ($response.request -eq "CAPCHA_NOT_READY") { continue }
            if ($response.status -ne 1) { throw "Solve: $($response.request)" }
            return $response.request
        }
        throw "Timeout"
    }
}

# Export
Export-ModuleMember

Using the Module

using module .\CaptchaAI.psm1

$solver = [CaptchaAISolver]::new("YOUR_API_KEY")

# Check balance
$balance = $solver.GetBalance()
Write-Host "Balance: `$$balance"

# Solve reCAPTCHA v2
$token = $solver.SolveRecaptchaV2("https://example.com/login", "SITEKEY")
Write-Host "Token: $($token.Substring(0, 50))..."

Submitting Forms with Solved Tokens

function Submit-FormWithToken {
    param(
        [string]$Url,
        [string]$Token,
        [hashtable]$FormData
    )

    $body = $FormData + @{
        "g-recaptcha-response" = $Token
    }

    $response = Invoke-WebRequest -Uri $Url `
        -Method Post `
        -Body $body `
        -ContentType "application/x-www-form-urlencoded"

    return $response
}

# Usage
$token = Solve-RecaptchaV2 -ApiKey "YOUR_API_KEY" `
    -SiteUrl "https://example.com/login" `
    -SiteKey "SITEKEY"

$result = Submit-FormWithToken `
    -Url "https://example.com/login" `
    -Token $token `
    -FormData @{
        username = "user@example.com"
        password = "password"
    }

Write-Host "Response: $($result.StatusCode)"

Parallel Solving with Jobs

$apiKey = "YOUR_API_KEY"

$tasks = @(
    @{ Url = "https://site-a.com"; Key = "SITEKEY_A" },
    @{ Url = "https://site-b.com"; Key = "SITEKEY_B" },
    @{ Url = "https://site-c.com"; Key = "SITEKEY_C" }
)

$jobs = $tasks | ForEach-Object {
    $task = $_
    Start-Job -ScriptBlock {
        param($ApiKey, $Url, $SiteKey)

        $taskId = (Invoke-RestMethod -Uri "https://ocr.captchaai.com/in.php" -Method Post -Body @{
            key = $ApiKey; json = 1; method = "userrecaptcha"
            googlekey = $SiteKey; pageurl = $Url
        }).request

        $deadline = (Get-Date).AddSeconds(300)
        while ((Get-Date) -lt $deadline) {
            Start-Sleep -Seconds 5
            $result = Invoke-RestMethod -Uri "https://ocr.captchaai.com/res.php" -Body @{
                key = $ApiKey; action = "get"; id = $taskId; json = 1
            }
            if ($result.request -ne "CAPCHA_NOT_READY" -and $result.status -eq 1) {
                return @{ Url = $Url; Token = $result.request }
            }
        }
        return @{ Url = $Url; Error = "Timeout" }
    } -ArgumentList $apiKey, $task.Url, $task.Key
}

# Wait and collect results
$results = $jobs | Wait-Job | Receive-Job
$results | ForEach-Object {
    if ($_.Token) {
        Write-Host "$($_.Url): $($_.Token.Substring(0, 50))..."
    } else {
        Write-Host "$($_.Url): $($_.Error)" -ForegroundColor Red
    }
}
$jobs | Remove-Job

Retry with Error Handling

function Solve-WithRetry {
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory)]
        [string]$ApiKey,

        [Parameter(Mandatory)]
        [hashtable]$TaskParams,

        [int]$MaxRetries = 3
    )

    $retryableErrors = @(
        "ERROR_NO_SLOT_AVAILABLE",
        "ERROR_CAPTCHA_UNSOLVABLE"
    )

    for ($attempt = 0; $attempt -le $MaxRetries; $attempt++) {
        if ($attempt -gt 0) {
            $delay = [Math]::Pow(2, $attempt) + (Get-Random -Maximum 3)
            Write-Host "Retry $attempt/$MaxRetries after $($delay)s..."
            Start-Sleep -Seconds $delay
        }

        try {
            $taskId = Submit-CaptchaTask -ApiKey $ApiKey -TaskParams $TaskParams
            $result = Get-CaptchaResult -ApiKey $ApiKey -TaskId $taskId
            return $result
        }
        catch {
            $errorMsg = $_.Exception.Message
            $isRetryable = $retryableErrors | Where-Object { $errorMsg -like "*$_*" }

            if (-not $isRetryable -or $attempt -eq $MaxRetries) {
                throw
            }
            Write-Warning "Retryable error: $errorMsg"
        }
    }
}

Scheduled Task Integration

# Create a scheduled task that runs CAPTCHA automation daily
$action = New-ScheduledTaskAction `
    -Execute "powershell.exe" `
    -Argument "-ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File C:\Scripts\captcha-automation.ps1"

$trigger = New-ScheduledTaskTrigger -Daily -At "08:00"

Register-ScheduledTask `
    -TaskName "CaptchaAutomation" `
    -Action $action `
    -Trigger $trigger `
    -Description "Run daily CAPTCHA automation with CaptchaAI"

Troubleshooting

Error Cause Fix
ERROR_WRONG_USER_KEY Invalid API key Verify key at dashboard
ERROR_ZERO_BALANCE No funds Top up account
Invoke-RestMethod: SSL/TLS TLS version mismatch Add [Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [Net.SecurityProtocolType]::Tls12
The response content cannot be parsed Non-JSON response Use Invoke-WebRequest and parse manually
Execution policy error Script blocked Run Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope CurrentUser RemoteSigned
Cannot convert to double Balance parse error Use [double]::Parse($response.request)

FAQ

Does this work with PowerShell 5.1 and 7+?

Yes. Both Invoke-RestMethod and Invoke-WebRequest work in PowerShell 5.1 (Windows built-in) and PowerShell 7+ (cross-platform).

Do I need any modules installed?

No. CaptchaAI's REST API works with built-in PowerShell cmdlets. No external modules required.

Can I use this in CI/CD pipelines?

Yes. PowerShell runs in Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions, and Jenkins. Store the API key as a secret variable.

How do I handle TLS errors?

Add [Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [Net.SecurityProtocolType]::Tls12 at the top of your script.

Automate CAPTCHAs from the Windows command line — get your API key and start scripting.

Full Working Code

Complete runnable examples for this article in Python, Node.js, PHP, Go, Java, C#, Ruby, Rust, Kotlin & Bash.

View on GitHub →

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